“Kingston,” a nurse called. “Your next patient is waiting for you. Your office just called down to let you know.”
“Cover for me,” he said hoarsely. “Cancel the fucking appointment, but I can’t see them now. I have an emergency.”
Every awful possibility clawed at him as he pushed his way through the double doors that led to the end of the corridor. He scanned the department like a predator, his chest tight and his breath shallow. Then he saw her. Aliza sat on a gurney behind a drawn curtain, Dani standing beside her with one hand clutched tightly in Aliza’s. She looked small, pale, terrified, and beautiful—so damn beautiful.
Elias crossed the space in seconds. “Aliza,” he said, his voice breaking despite his effort to keep it steady.
Her head snapped up, her eyes filling instantly with tears. “Elias.”
He was at her side before he realized he’d moved, taking her hand carefully, like he was afraid she might shatter. “What’s going on?” he asked gently, already scanning monitors, vitals, and anything else that would give him some answers.
“I—I woke up this morning, and there was blood,” she whispered. “I thought—I thought I was losing the baby.” The words punched straight through him. He felt completely helpless, and for the first time in his career as a doctor, he was. He couldn’t help her, but he knew that she was in the right place.
“Okay,” he said quietly, forcing his racing mind to slow down. “Okay. You did the right thing coming in. The doctors here will take good care of you, honey.” He wanted to ask her a million questions, starting with where she had been and why she hadn’t contacted him in the past month, but he knew that now wasn’t the time. She was already scared out of her mind, and stressing her out further wasn’t a good idea.
A nurse cleared her throat. “Ultrasound and labs are already done, Doctor.”
Elias nodded. “Thank you. When will someone be in to see her?” he asked.
“As soon as an OB is available, I’ll send him in. Just hang tight,” the nurse ordered. How many times had he said those same words to his own patients? Too many times to count, and now, he realized just how empty they were when someone’s life was on the line. This time—it was his baby’s life that they were playing with, and sitting around to wait for an OB wasn’t going to be easy. He nodded his thanks, and the nurse turned to leave the room.
He looked back at Aliza, noticing that she had been crying. God, he hated seeing her like this. He crossed the room and hesitantly reached for her, brushing his thumb over her knuckles. “Have you had any severe cramping or a fever?”
“Just pain,” she said. “Like tightness, and a little bit of spotting.”
The OB resident stepped in, clipboard in hand, not bothering to look up at his patient as he read the results. “Everything looks stable. The fetal heartbeat is strong, and there are no signs of a miscarriage.” Elias closed his eyes, relief crashing through him so hard his knees almost buckled.
Aliza let out a broken sob. “Really? The baby is okay?”
“Really,” the resident said, finally looking up at them with a smile. “Sorry, Dr. Kingston, I didn’t know that Ms. Becker was your patient.”
“She’s not my patient,” Elias insisted, “She’s my girlfriend.” Saying that out loud, after spending the last month apart, felt strange. Was she still his girlfriend, or his partner? Hell, he didn’t care what she called herself in relation to him, as long as she ended up going home with him when this whole ordeal was over.
The resident turned back to Aliza, not seeming to know what to say to Elias’s declaration. “What you’re experiencing is likely stress-related spotting. It can happen at any point in yourpregnancy. Have you been under a good deal of stress lately?” he asked.
He wanted to laugh at just how much stress she had been under these past few months—and he had helped to cause a good deal of it. That ended now. He was going to get Aliza to listen to reason and come home with him so that he could take care of her and the baby. It was about time that he put her first, and that time was now.
“I have been under a lot of stress, but that was mostly my doing,” she almost whispered. “I’m so sorry that I’ve been stubborn over the past month. I needed time, and instead, I ended up putting the baby in danger.”
“We can talk about all that later,” he insisted.
Dani’s cell phone buzzed, and she pulled it from her scrubs. “I have to go,” she said. “I’m sorry, Aliza, but I’m on call. Are you going to be all right here?” She looked at Elias, as though asking Aliza if she’d be all right staying with him, and he wanted to protest, but thought better of it. Aliza nodded and hugged her friend.
“Thank you for everything. I’m sorry to put you through all of this,” she said.
“Anything, anytime,” Danni insisted. “That’s what friends do for each other.” She shot Elias a stern look, as though telling him to go easy on Aliza, and he nodded. He knew that she was in a fragile state, and there was no way that he’d put her or the baby in any more danger.
Once they were finally alone again, he stayed close to Aliza, refusing to let go of her hand. He needed to touch her and to know that she was really there with him. He had dreamed of this moment for weeks now, and he finally had his chance to tell her everything that he hadn’t before she left.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to cause all this trouble and put you through all this.”
He barked out his laugh. “I’m the one who should be apologizing, honey,” he said. “I was the one who told your father about the baby. I was the one who caused him to storm over to the house to confront you. This is all my fault,” he admitted.
She nodded, tears sliding silently down her cheeks. “But you’re not totally to blame in this,” she assured. “I should have dealt with my father long before I even met you. I was the one who let him control my life, and honestly, walking away from him was the best decision that I’ve ever made. The second-best decision was agreeing to move in with you, Elias,” she almost whispered. “You’ve changed my life for the better, and I’ve destroyed that by walking away. I’m so sorry,” she cried.
“Where did you go, honey?” he asked, still holding her hand in his.
“I left,” she said softly. “I felt that I had no other choice, but I was wrong. I stayed with Dani’s mom in Upstate New York. I needed quiet to think, and I got plenty of that. I just needed to figure a few things out for myself with no pressure or expectations.” His chest ached at the image of her alone and hurting somewhere he couldn’t reach her.
